Sunday, July 27, 2014

Sweet Chatti Pathiri (Iftar Special Recipe)

Chatti Pathiri is a very common sweet dish among Malabar Muslims. This is a must for any get together in our area. It is made in both sweet and savory variations. This is a little time consuming recipe but really tasty and delicious. You can bake this in oven or cook on stove top. I prefer stove cooking rather than oven. We can make the Pathiri either like the chappathi dough, rolling it and then cooking on the tawa/griddle or making batter, by mixing maida (plain flour), water egg and salt and making thin pancakes. I made the batter version because it is so soft and easier.


Ingredients

For the pathiris :
Plain flour : 1 cup
Egg : 1
Water : enough to make a thin batter
Salt : a pinch

For the filling :
Eggs : 5
Sugar : 10 tbsp (can adjust according to your preferences)
Grated coconut : 5 tbsp
Raisins : 50 gms
Cashew nuts (broken) : 50 gms
Poppy seeds (couscous) : 4 tbsp
Cardamom powder : 1tsp
Ghee : 2-3 tbsp

For coating :
Eggs : 4
Sugar : 6 tbsp
Cardamom powder : a pinch


Preparation

For the pathiris :
1. Mix the flour, egg and salt with enough water to make a thin batter.
2. Make thin pan cakes (dosas) in a non stick pan. You can vary the size of the pan cakes depending on the size of the vessel in which you are making chatti pathiri.


For the filling :
1. Beat the eggs lightly with sugar and cardamom.
2. Heat a large frying pan. Add ghee and saute raisins, cashew nuts, poppy seeds and grated coconut until they start to change the color slightly.
3. Add the beaten egg and scrample the whole mixture until the egg is well cooked. Keep it aside.

For the coating and the assembling :
1. For coating, beat the eggs, sugar and cardamom and keep aside.
2. Take a non-stick vessel or baking tray, spread ghee all around.
3. Take one pan cake, dip in the egg coating mixture and keep it as the first layer.
4. Sprinkle the scrambled egg filling on top of the pan cake.


5. Dip the second pan cake in the egg coating mixture, and place it on top of the filling.
6. Sprinkle the scrambled egg mixture again and repeat this until all the pan cakes and the scrambled egg mixture is used up. Pour the remaining egg mixture on top so that it drains on all the gaps on sides and form a thin layer on top. This is important to keep chatti pathiri moist.
7. Bake in oven for about 15 minutes or until the top of pathiri turns golden. You can cook it in a non-stick vessel on stove, by placing it in very low flame and then flipping it over carefully and cooking on the other side.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Chicken Kofta Curry

Hi,
Hope everyone out there is doing well. I am doing great here. As it is Ramadan, I am little busy and cant find time to blog. Now at least I have got sometime so that I could share this recipe for you. Chicken kofta curry is an Indian style spiced meatballs in spiced gravy. It's a flavorful Indian dish. Off to the recipe...



Ingredients

For the koftas :

Ground/Minced Chicken - 500 gms
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Garam Masala -1 tsp or to taste
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Cilantro - few sprigs
Cornflour - 1/2 cup
Oil for fry

For the curry :

Oil -2 tbsp
Cardamom seeds 1/4 tsp
Cloves - 3 
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch piece 
Bay Leaf - 1
Onion - medium, finely chopped
Salt - very little
Ginger & garlic - 1 tbsp, minced
Tomato Paste - 1 tbsp
Tomatoes - 2 medium chopped
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
Cumin Powder 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Yogurt - 1 cup, we'll beaten
Water as needed
Cilantro - for garnish

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients for the koftas (except cornflour) and mix really we'll.
2. Dip your hands in water and take a small amount of mixture and make lemon size balls. Coat with cornflour. fry and keep aside.





3. For Curry part, heat Oil in a pan on medium heat.
4. Once hot, add the Cinnamon stick and the bay leaf.
5. Pound the Cardamom Seeds and the Cloves in a Mortar and pestle.
6. Add to the Oil.
7. Immediately after that add the Onions.
8. Add a little Salt to speed up the cooking.
9. Once the Onions change color add in the minced Ginger & Garlic.
10. Cook for just a couple of minutes.
11. Add in the Tomato Paste and mix well.
12. Add in the fresh tomatoes and Turmeric powder and cook till the Oil separates.
13. Add in the Coriander powder, Cumin powder, and Garam masala.
14. Mix well and lower the flame to a simmer.
15. Adding the well-beaten yogurt slowly and stir continuously while adding.
16. Add enough Water and increase the flame to a medium, cover and allow the curry to boil.
17. Drop koftas gently into the boiling curry.
18. Repeat process till all the koftas are in the Curry. 
19. Lower the flame, cover and cook for 8-10 minutes, remove cover and mix very gently.
20. Garnish with Cilantro and serve hot.